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Apple M5 vs Apple M5 Max

The M5 Max delivers 4.0x the FP32 throughput of the M5 (17 vs 4.2 TFLOPS dense). The M5 Max also carries 96 GB more memory (128 GB vs 32 GB).

M5: Apple M5, 2025 M5 Max: Apple M5, 2026
FP32 dense lead
4.0x
M5 Max: 17 vs 4.2 TFLOPS
Memory
32 vs 128 GB
96 GB more for the M5 Max
Bandwidth
154 GB/s vs 614 GB/s
M5 Max moves data faster
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Apple M5 vs Apple M5 Max

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Apple M5

Full specs →

What is the Apple M5?

The M5 is an APU from Apple on the Apple M5 architecture, an processor that pairs CPU and GPU on one chip. It is a system-on-chip, so it is built into edge and embedded devices rather than sold as a card. M5 full specifications →

Can I rent the M5 in the cloud?

Flopper is not tracking any live rental listings for the M5 yet. The provider directory lists the clouds that rent comparable accelerators on demand. GPU cloud providers →

How does the M5 compare with other accelerators?

This page sets the M5 against the M5 Max. The M5 is the older generation of the two. Both are Apple parts, and both ship as a system-on-chip, so they fit the same class of system. The compare tool builds the same comparison for any two parts in the catalogue. All GPU comparisons →

Where do the M5 figures come from?

Apple published the M5 figures in marketing material rather than a datasheet, and Flopper has no independent confirmation of them. How Flopper verifies specifications →

Apple M5 Max

Leads on FP32 Full specs →

What is the Apple M5 Max?

The M5 Max is an APU from Apple on the Apple M5 architecture, an processor that pairs CPU and GPU on one chip. It is a system-on-chip, so it is built into edge and embedded devices rather than sold as a card. M5 Max full specifications →

Can I rent the M5 Max in the cloud?

Flopper is not tracking any live rental listings for the M5 Max yet. The provider directory lists the clouds that rent comparable accelerators on demand. GPU cloud providers →

How does the M5 Max compare with other accelerators?

This page sets the M5 Max against the M5. The M5 Max is the newer generation of the two. Both are Apple parts, and both ship as a system-on-chip, so they fit the same class of system. Flopper also compares it head to head with the Ryzen AI Max+ 395 Radeon 8060S (Strix Halo) and M5 Ultra, across every published precision, memory and power. M5 Max vs Ryzen AI Max+ 395 Radeon 8060S (Strix Halo) →

Where do the M5 Max figures come from?

Apple published the M5 Max figures in marketing material rather than a datasheet, and Flopper has no independent confirmation of them. How Flopper verifies specifications →

Specifications

M5
M5 Max
Architecture
Apple M5Apple M5
Launch Year
20252026
Form Factor
SoCSoC
Memory
32 GB128 GB
Memory Bandwidth
154 GB/s614 GB/s
TDP
——
Process Node
3nm3nm

Performance (TFLOPS)

M5
M5 Max
No verified data available No verified data available
4.2 TFLOPS 17 TFLOPS
No verified data available No verified data available
No verified data available No verified data available
No verified data available No verified data available
No verified data available No verified data available
FP6
No verified data available No verified data available
No verified data available No verified data available
No verified data available No verified data available

Figures are dense. Where a vendor publishes a figure it sits under the dense one and never decides a winner. Hover any precision for its definition, or read the GPU glossary.

FLOPS by Precision

What actually differs

The M5 Max is the newer part: Apple M5 (2026) against the M5's Apple M5 (2025).

The M5 Max carries 96 GB more memory (128 GB against 32 GB), so larger models fit on one GPU before you shard. Bandwidth is 154 GB/s against 614 GB/s, which sets the ceiling on decode speed.

Weight the FP8 and FP16 rows for LLM work and the FP64 row for HPC.

New to the terms? The glossary explains FP32, Sparsity and TFLOPS.

Frequently asked questions

Is the M5 faster than the M5 Max?

At FP32 precision the M5 Max reaches 17 TFLOPS dense against 4.2 TFLOPS for the M5. The performance table on this page lists every published precision for both GPUs.

Which should you choose, the M5 or the M5 Max?

Choose the M5 Max for training and high-throughput inference: it has 4.0x the FP32 throughput of the M5. It also carries 96 GB more memory, so larger models fit on one GPU before you shard.

Which has more memory, the M5 or the M5 Max?

The M5 Max carries 128 GB of memory versus 32 GB for the M5. Memory bandwidth is 154 GB/s for the M5 and 614 GB/s for the M5 Max.

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